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In the absence of a good TV show on this late weeknight, I find myself bored, if not a bit saddened by the lack of new episodes of some of my favorites like Through the Wormhole, Ancient Aliens, et al. I ask myself, what can I do? I've long outgrown computer games, and naturally, I would be inclined to read something, but my reading habits and preferences have changed over the years.

I have a huge collection of books, mostly nonfiction, that I've accumulated as part of my home library since the days of Borders, and those don't include the comic books. I've learned the hard way that I tend to dislike any type of heavy reading, which involves most of my religion, social science, astronomy, health, art, and history collections, many of which remain unread or unfinished. That doesnt mean I can't use them for future reference. I must've spent $2,000, including my Marvel and DC graphic novels.

So during the past few years, I've been reading mostly magazines: travel, entertainment, culture, health, cooking. I don't buy books anymore unless I'm absolutely positive I will make the time to read them. If I never get the chance to read my books, I hope to give them someday to my nephews/nieces, however outdated they may become.

Do you love to read? What kinds of books or other publications do you prefer? Do you read for pleasure or for academic reason or both? What say you?

__________________
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
--Bilbo Baggins, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring

I love to read. Nowadays, as I am retired, I only read for pleasure. I own about 1000 books of which around 250 are e-books.

I am a member of LibraryThing (my name is Zozette there) and I enjoy doing the category challenge there as it is encourages me to read genres that I don't usually read. For the 2013 Challenge I selected 13 categories, 5 of which were full categories (13 books each) and the remainder were half categories (6 or 7 books each)

That looks like a lot of fun and a really great concept to expand your reading tastes. I find myself getting subconsciously trapped in a certain genre at times. I may have to look into that. Thanks for posting this.

__________________
Searching for something, a million miles and a ways to go.

For work I read a lot of news and research in the fields of education, human development and learning, and publishing.

For pleasure I mostly read nonfiction in the form of magazines (usually online), blogs, and news sites. Science Daily, Scientific American, Neurologica Blog, The New Yorker (which has a lot of fiction, of course -- my hair was mentioned in the latest issue too! -- though it was attributed to someone else), and I read a lot research; peer-reviewed journal type stuff, usually in neurology, psychology, linguistics, and physics.

For books I usually read nonfiction as well, and again, it's generally science. I like popsci physics books because physics journals can get over my head with mathiness. The same goes for things like stats and math theories, which I enjoy but am not talented enough/educated enough in those fields to really comprehend the research papers. I like books about evolution, critical thinking, neurolinguistics, stuff like that.

I occasionally read biographies and memoirs, but not often. I do enjoy fiction a lot, but it makes up only about 25% of my reading.

I read mostly fiction as it is my escape from a long hard day (I read before going to bed at night) But when I do read non-fiction it is generally military history stuff (mostly U.S. and German WWII stuff)

As for fiction, I run a gamit I guess. I love sci-fi and fantasy, everything from Star Trek novels, Tolkien, Alistar Reynolds, CS Lewis (both Narnia and Space Trilogy), D&D stuff, to just about any cool looking/sounding sci-fi or fantasy I can find. Last time I was deployed I had an old book from my spouse's aunt, Lawrence Sander's The Tomorrow File. A little strange to get into a first, but then I couldn't put it down. Excellent book that shows what the future could very well turn out to be like.

I also like mystery and horror novels. I'm currently reading a "historical fiction" novel about Vlad Tepes and its pretty neat. Will move on to Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile next (my Grandma sent it to me in a care package here in Afghanistan).

I like to read although I am a very light reader. I usually only read a handful of books a year. It just seems there are other things I would rather do. I can get very engrossed though given the right book or series. Last year I blasted through every Ian Fleming Bond book In a couple months because I enjoyed them so much

I like spy stories (also a huge Golgo 13 fan),mysteries, and adventure. For nonfiction I usually read books about the film industry, famous directors, film analysis etc.

Wow, you guys do read a LOT. Having a short attention span, I just can't get into fiction novels anymore. I used to read Star Trek novels as a teen, but those days are long gone. Although I have the entire collection of Harry Potter books, I've only read Prisoner of Azkaban. Even nowadays I can't seem to sit still and read for more than an hour unless I happen to be reading one of my graphic novels or some articles in a magazine.

As for the "dense" non-fiction books I have (mythology, religion, history, etc.), I read them in segments, or I refer to them if I want to look something up (but with the Internet at my disposal, it's much easier to look things up on my cell phone or tablet).

Wow, you guys do read a LOT. Having a short attention span, I just can't get into fiction novels anymore. I used to read Star Trek novels as a teen, but those days are long gone. Although I have the entire collection of Harry Potter books, I've only read Prisoner of Azkaban. Even nowadays I can't seem to sit still and read for more than an hour unless I happen to be reading one of my graphic novels or some articles in a magazine.

Even if you read really slowly an hour is long enough to get an average fiction chapter in...why not read fiction in chunks in the same way as nonfiction? I often do that because I usually read several books at a time. Or what about short stories? I love short stories, and there are a few collections I'd highly recommend: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Ollen Butler, Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang, and my favorite book ever, Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. The stories in Einstein's dreams run from 2 to 6 pages in length, I'm sure even your short attention span could handle that!

As for the "dense" non-fiction books I have (mythology, religion, history, etc.), I read them in segments, or I refer to them if I want to look something up (but with the Internet at my disposal, it's much easier to look things up on my cell phone or tablet).

I love the big ebook collections! I reread all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, plus a couple other Conan Doyle novels with one of those collections. I also have the complete Dickens, though I doubt I'll read it all; Great Expectations is one of my favorite books, but A Tale of Two Cities bored me to tears.

According to my mother, I taught myself to read at 2-1/2 by reading the cereal box. I don't remember that, but do remember that I was reading the Bobbsey Twins (yes, that dates me... ) when I started kindergarten.

I read a variety of subjects: medicine & healthcare delivery for work (although I do read epidemiology for pleasure as well). For pleasure, literary fiction of any genre (just finished Octavia Butler's oevre), anything conservation & nature related, and farm memoirs.

Wow, you guys do read a LOT. Having a short attention span, I just can't get into fiction novels anymore. I used to read Star Trek novels as a teen, but those days are long gone. Although I have the entire collection of Harry Potter books, I've only read Prisoner of Azkaban. Even nowadays I can't seem to sit still and read for more than an hour unless I happen to be reading one of my graphic novels or some articles in a magazine.

Even if you read really slowly an hour is long enough to get an average fiction chapter in...why not read fiction in chunks in the same way as nonfiction? I often do that because I usually read several books at a time. Or what about short stories? I love short stories, and there are a few collections I'd highly recommend: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Ollen Butler, Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang, and my favorite book ever, Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman. The stories in Einstein's dreams run from 2 to 6 pages in length, I'm sure even your short attention span could handle that!

As for the "dense" non-fiction books I have (mythology, religion, history, etc.), I read them in segments, or I refer to them if I want to look something up (but with the Internet at my disposal, it's much easier to look things up on my cell phone or tablet).

I love the big ebook collections! I reread all of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels, plus a couple other Conan Doyle novels with one of those collections. I also have the complete Dickens, though I doubt I'll read it all; Great Expectations is one of my favorite books, but A Tale of Two Cities bored me to tears.

Excellent! Thanks for the tips and recommendations. I could see myself reading short stories, and that's why I like Poe's works as well as various folktales. I would like to get an e-book that has all of Shakespeare's comedies and tragedies (though they're not necessarily short), perhaps something annotated and easy to comprehend. Some of my favorite literary quotes are from Hamlet and MacBeth.

Miss Chicken, that's a pretty impressive list.

__________________
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
--Bilbo Baggins, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring

Love to read, but I read so much at work that sometimes I just can't get into reading for fun. Plus with young kids and the stuff that goes on with them I just have very little time. That said, I usually keep a fiction and a non fiction book on my nightstand and try to read 15 - 20 pages in either one before bed. I bet I read maybe a dozen or so books a year.

Sorry for bumping this but I've been busy and then sick so I didn't have a chance to reply sooner. I've just recently been having discussions with a few friends who like to read but find themselves easily distracted and can't get through the "dry" subjects, or long non-fiction books.

A few ideas. Don't feel like you should be reading anything in particular. Don't buy a book because it will look good on your shelf or because you feel like you should be reading something impressive. Read what you're interested in. And there's such a variety out there. History, for example. Pick a particular time or region that might interest you. It's a narrative, so just find someone who tells it in a way that you'd find interesting. Maybe read some historical fiction first to ease into it. Or pick up something like "The Intellectual Devotional" that will give you tidbits of information and be a jumping off point for you to read more when something catches your eye.

Obviously, I love reading. One of my earliest memories is of sitting in a loft in my preschool classroom, reading away. With the way technology and entertainment is now, it might take some more willpower and concentration to actually sit down and read a book. It's easier to just muck about on the internet, isn't it? I personally like to turn off electronics and just sit down and make myself read for an hour or two before bed. It takes a little dedication, but I think it's worth it.

Thanks, Kestra. A big part of how I ended up with such a wealth of books is that I bought the ones that I was (and still am) interested in--science, travel, health, religion, and the list goes on. There's really nothing in my library that I felt obligated to buy but didn't want, but as I said, I've got a short attention span and also from time to time get bogged down in a particular chapter or section.

Whenever I have some extended time off from work, I make it a point to at least catch up on my DC and Marvel comic books (they're short and at least illustrated). Add to that the magazines that I'm reading and my TV viewing schedule (and believe me, I watch fewer shows now than I did 5 years ago), there's hardly any time for me to get to the "bigger" non-fiction books.

Reading, to me, takes discipline; I'd have to be locked up in a room with no electronics to concentrate on a book.

__________________
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
--Bilbo Baggins, LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring